


Second-Best, on a Good Day

by derryderrydown



Category: DCU - Comicverse, Outsiders
Genre: Gen, Wangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-07
Updated: 2009-12-07
Packaged: 2017-10-04 05:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/derryderrydown/pseuds/derryderrydown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's tough being friends with Dick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second-Best, on a Good Day

The best time to think is during archery practice. Because Connor has the words to describe the disconnection of brain and body but Roy experienced it long before he ever heard the word 'zen'.

Admittedly, it took him quite a long time to hear the word. It wasn't something that came up often on the reservation and Ollie was more likely to use 'patience'. But he heard it eventually and a few years after that, he bothered to find out what it meant.

The trouble is that, sometimes, Roy doesn't want to think. If he lets his brain think about whatever it wants, it tends to think stupid thoughts. Thoughts like:

It's tough being friends with Dick.

(Roy nocks an arrow and lets it fly. The moment it leaves the string, he knows it's going to land millimetres above and to the left of where he wants it and he already knows what correction he's going to make when he nocks the next arrow.)

Because Dick is gorgeous. It's not something Roy would ever say out loud but everybody knows it. Dick has the best ass and the best body and the best cheekbones in the whole of the cape-and-cowl set, and Roy's pretty certain that Dick doesn't even realise it. If you're ever lucky enough to be around when he takes off his mask, his eyes are bright blue and they're just made even more noticeable by the thickness of his lashes.

(This one's going to land spot on and he has to decide where to aim next. He's already bored of static shooting so he doesn't think but hurls himself into a somersault and sets the arrow free at the apex of the arc.)

Roy's eyes are a washed-out almost-blue that seem to pick up the colour of whatever he's wearing. And it's not that he's actively ugly but he's never going to look as good as Dick so he just doesn't bother thinking about it. Well, beyond making sure that he never looks like he's trying to look like Dick.

(His foot slips as he lands and he has to twist hard enough that his back protests.)

He'd liked having floppy hair because it gave him something to hide behind. But then Dick's hair grew far enough into 'shaggy' that it was getting close to 'floppy' and Roy had been thinking about a change anyway.

(Hurls his weight forward and he keeps his balance just long enough to loose another arrow and it's going to land precisely right.)

And Dick's not just a pretty face. He's always been the smart one, even from before the Titans were the Titans, back when it was just Wally, Garth and Dick and some cracked-out villain with a staff fixation.

(He's going to fall anyway, so he tucks and rolls and goes with it until he can roll right back on to his feet, facing in the opposite direction, and he takes out the battle droid that was preparing to attack.)

And, again, it's not that Roy's stupid. Maybe he's solid rather than brilliant but he's not a moron. It's just that, no matter how hard he tries, he's never going to measure up to Dick. And you can't fail if you don't try.

Roy's failed enough.

(He doesn't remember setting battle conditions.)

He isn't quite sure why Dick's never shown any interest in archery. He kind of hopes it's Dick's way of showing he knows how Roy feels, Dick's way of giving Roy his own garden to play in. Then again, he also hopes Dick doesn't know how pathetic he is.

(There's another battle droid, raising its gun. Roy doesn't bother making sure the arrow lands where it should because he already knows it will.)

He'd actually thought guns would be his safe place. Dick was trained by Batman and everybody knows how psycho Bruce is about guns. But then Dick had proved he was quite happy to handle a gun, thanks. He was probably a better shot than Roy. Dick did everything better.

(He didn't set battle conditions.)

So Roy works hard on his archery, just in case Dick turns up with a bow one day. Roy knows he'll never be as good as Ollie but he's better than Connor and that's something. Only one more Green Arrow to beat.

(He aims one arrrow to take out two droids. It works.)

He knows that's not a healthy line of thought. He doesn't really care. He hasn't been healthy since he was kicked out of his home and sent to live with a millionaire playing an elaborate game of Robin Hood.

(Movement in the corner of his eye and he spins fast enough to spot it's a simulated kid before he lets loose.)

Looking back, Roy thinks he was something of a fashion accessory for Ollie. Batman had a kid sidekick. Why shouldn't Ollie have one?

(The kid was a distraction and now Roy's blocked in by battle droids and he only has one arrow left. He nocks it and he can't send it with too much power behind it. Has to judge it carefully. Has to stop thinking about it.)

Not so much a fashion accessory as a cheap copy of Dick.

(The arrow hits the emergency stop with just enough speed to press it without shooting straight through it and fusing the electrics. The battle droids die in place.)

The door swooshes open and Dick's leaning against the frame, almost smiling. He doesn't have his mask on and it isn't the costume that makes his eyes so blue.

"Thought you looked a bit bored without an opponent," Dick says.

For a split second, Roy wonders what Dick's reaction would be if he said he carried his opponent around all the time. But he knows he can't face Dick's honest worry, so he just grins and lets a brainless quip fly.

It's tough being friends with Dick.


End file.
